Murrieta Valley reports CAASPP gains; district outpaces county and state in ELA, math and science

Faith Muchnick, the district’s assistant superintendent for educational services, told the Murrieta Valley Unified School District Board of Education on Nov. 18 that the district’s most recent CAASPP results show steady gains and remain above county and state averages.

“Sixty‑three percent of our students met or exceeded standards in English language arts,” Muchnick said, noting that the district’s ELA rate compares with a Riverside County average of 44% and a statewide average of 49%. She reported 48% in math (county 30%, state 37%) and 45% in science (county 27%, state 33%). Muchnick said the figures reflect three years of growth toward pre‑pandemic levels.

The presentation placed the district’s graduation rate at 97.8% and its A–G completion rate at 62%. A separate college-and-career readiness metric (the CCI) was reported at 64 percent, and Muchnick said the dashboard shows strengths in graduation, ELA, math, the CCI and suspension rates, while English‑learner progress (orange) and chronic absenteeism (yellow) need continued attention.

Trustees pressed for more granular information. A board member asked why fourth grade proficiency remains below pre‑pandemic levels in some measures; Muchnick replied that grade‑by‑grade data and common assessments are being reviewed by site teams and professional learning communities and pointed to a district report with deeper breakdowns. She also said long‑term English learners have shown academic growth even when that growth has not yet produced reclassification to fluent English proficient status.

Muchnick cautioned that CAASPP is a college‑ and career‑readiness measure and therefore uses a higher proficiency standard than classroom grades. “Performance levels 3 and 4 indicate students are performing at a college‑ready level,” she said, and added that increases of a few percentage points across 20,000 students represent meaningful change.

Trustees noted successful pockets of practice. The board highlighted Alta Murrieta Elementary’s double‑digit year‑over‑year gains across grade levels as an example of instructional strategies other sites might adapt. Members also discussed chronic absenteeism, which Muchnick said has improved from pandemic highs and is currently reported around 15–16.8% districtwide; the district continues targeted interventions through MTSS teams.

The district report includes subgroup data showing that English learners’ reclassification rate has been steady at roughly 16% and that long‑term English learners and students with disabilities have seen some content gains in CAASPP measures. Muchnick said staff will bring additional analyses to site and board conversations to inform curriculum and program adjustments.

Next steps: trustees asked staff to provide deeper grade‑level and subgroup trend analyses in follow‑up materials and to share details about site strategies that produced notable gains so those practices can be scaled districtwide.